After her father raped her, Jean became one of the roughly 12,000 Texas kids in long-term foster care, a system that often leaves children more damaged than when they arrive. For Jean, selling sex seemed like a safer bet.
Edgar Walters
Edgar Walters worked at the Tribune from 2013 to 2020, most recently covering health and human services. Before that, he had a political reporting fellowship with the Berliner Zeitung, a daily newspaper in Berlin. He is a graduate of the Plan II Honors Program at the University of Texas at Austin, where he worked as an editor for The Daily Texan. When not in the newsroom or at the Capitol, he could be found on the volleyball court, standing 6 feet, 7 inches tall.
Posted in
Politics
Rainy Day Fund takes center stage at first House budget hearing
Budget writers in the Texas House are considering tapping the state’s savings account because they have a lot less money at their discretion this session.
Posted in
Sold Out
How hollow rhetoric and a broken child welfare system feed Texas’ sex-trafficking underworld
Texas leaders have publicly battled sex trafficking for more than a decade, but they’ve devoted hardly any resources to helping victims.
Posted in
Sold Out
How underage girls are sold for sex online
You don’t have to dredge the backwaters of the Internet to find underage girls sold for sex online. Take a tour of the commercial sex trade’s most recent marketplace, hidden in plain view.
Posted in
Sold Out
In their own words: How Texas pimps recruit and sell girls for sex
Texas Tribune reporters talked to three convicted traffickers to try to understand the power they wield over victims and the attraction of what they call “the lifestyle.” Here they are in their own words.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
In dueling budget proposals, Texas House and Senate billions apart
Texas House and Senate leaders are starting out the legislative session nearly $8 billion apart according in dueling budget proposals released Tuesday. Among the sticking points: spending on public education and border security.
Posted in
State Government
Hegar gives lawmakers dour revenue estimate for 2017 session
Facing sluggish economic forecasts, Comptroller Glenn Hegar announced Monday that lawmakers will have $104.87 billion in state funds at their disposal in crafting the next two-year budget, a 2.7 percent decrease from the last session two years ago.
Posted in
2016 Year in Review
Trump, women’s health, child welfare top Texas news in 2016
Here’s a look at the top health and human services storylines The Texas Tribune tracked this year.
Posted inState Government
U.S. officials warn of further disability provider closures in Texas
As Texas seeks to implement a $350 million cut to the Medicaid budget for children’s therapy services, Texas health officials are scrambling to maintain a robust network of providers.
Posted in
Health care
House Speaker Joe Straus vows to reverse cuts to disabled children’s therapy services
In a wide-ranging interview with the Texas Tribune’s Evan Smith, House Speaker Joe Straus shed light on his priorities for state lawmakers.
